Pres.-elect Trump supports completion of the Dakota Access pipeline, a Trump spokesperson says, a day after the Obama administration denied a permit needed to finish the project.

Pipeline experts say Trump has several options once he takes office to enable the pipeline to proceed, including directing the Secretary of the Army to reinstate a previous permit for the reservoir crossing or issuing an executive order approving the pipeline: the Republican-led Congress, which reconvenes more than two weeks before the inauguration, also could get involved.

But nearly any outcome delays completion until mid 2017, and ETP has said it expects to lose nearly $84M each month the pipeline is delayed, and that losing shippers could result in its cancellation.

Kinder Morgan’s (KMI+3.3%) Trans Mountain oil pipeline, now approved by Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, will continue to face hurdles before it can be built, as the country sorts out the rights and roles of indigenous people in major energy projects.

Analysts say delays are possible as KMI and Enbridge (ENB+0.1%) - whose Line 3 expansion was approved while the Northern Gateway project was rejected - work to satisfy the conditions placed on their approvals, which "will take some time and may also be met with a variety of legal challenges," says Credit Suisse's Andrew Kuske.

“It’s not happening. We’ll do what it takes to stop it,” says a member of the Vancouver-area Tsleil-Waututh indigenous community, adding that there’s a “strong possibility” the community will file a legal challenge against Trans Mountain.

KMI says it will now seek all necessary permits, review cost estimates and make its final investment decision; it expects construction to begin in September 2017 and for the pipeline to enter service in late 2019.

“There isn’t a country in the world that would find billions of barrels of oil and leave it in the ground while there’s still a market for it," Prime Minister Trudeau says, while nixing Northern Gateway because "the Great Bear Rainforest is no place for a pipeline."

But oil patch hopes for greater access to Asian markets are hurt by a decision to ban crude oil tanker traffic along the northern part of British Columbia’s Pacific coastline.

The Tsleil-Waututh Nation of North Vancouver makes a last-ditch effort to convince the Trudeau government to take their side in opposition to Kinder Morgan’s (KMI-0.2%) $6.8B proposal to triple the capacity of its Trans Mountain pipeline.

“The project, if approved, would constitute a serious, unjustified infringement of our aboriginal title and rights in Eastern Burrard Inlet for generations to come,” the tribe says in a letter to Natural Resources Minister Carr.

Carr says the government will make public its position “very, very soon," and speculation says conditional approval could come as early as today at the weekly cabinet meeting, with an announcement today or tomorrow.

The government already has made its decision on the fate of the proposed $7.9B Enbridge (ENB-2.1%) pipeline to Kitimat, but is waiting until this week to make the verdict public.

Crude oil continues to slide - WTI now -3.8% at $45.27/bbl, and Brent -3.8% at $46.40/bbl - dragging oil and gas equities (XLE-2.1%) down with it.

Iran's oil minister says he is not prepared to reduce supply, and Saudi Arabia says it would not participate in a production deal without Iran and Iraq.

Reuters reports that Iran has written to OPEC saying Saudi Arabia needs to cut oil output to 9.5M bbl/day; Saudi has said it was prepared to reduce its production only by 500K bbl/day from current levels of 10.5M.

Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE:ETP) -1.2% AH on news that the Obama administration plans to extend its review before deciding on a permit for the $3.8B Dakota Access crude pipeline, further delaying work on a segment of the project that has been stalled since September.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says further talks are warranted given the importance of the lake to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and that it will work with the tribe on a timeline “that allows for robust discussion and analysis to be completed expeditiously.”

The setback likely will prove temporary, as the incoming Trump administration is expected to grant approval to finish the project.

A decision on completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline near tribal lands in North Dakota will come in the next few days, possibly by Monday, says an Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson.

The Obama administration intervened in September to temporarily halt construction under Lake Oahe so the Army Corps could review permitting; pipeline owner Energy Transfer Partners (ETP-0.9%) has continued to build to the edge of the federal land where the lake is located, and earlier this week said it was moving equipment to prepare to tunnel under the lake.

Although Trudeau did not tip his hand about his plans for the pipeline, Cattaneo notes that he said the oceans’ protection plan meets the highest global marine safety standards, giving him cover in aiming to satisfy the British Columbia government’s conditions for its support of the $6.8B project.

The consolation prize to the anti-pipeline lobby could be the permanent spiking of Enbridge's (NYSE:ENB) rival Northern Gateway pipeline, Cattaneo also surmises.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission says its plan covers 700 sq. miles but does not say how many wells were affected; when a quake of similar magnitude hit the state in September, the agency ordered 37 wells shut over a 500 sq. mile area.

Pipeline operator Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP) quickly resumed normal operations at Cushing following a controlled shutdown of its assets after the quake, while Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) and Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) said their facilities were not affected.

Some Iowa landowners are complaining about construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, saying crews have left behind debris, released cattle from grazing areas and disrespected their land, according to the Des Moines Register.

Several Iowa landowners have petitioned county inspectors, supervisors and state regulators, claiming that questionable construction practices are worsening tensions between landowners and builders of the 1,170-mile pipeline.

Dakota Access says it takes its construction commitments seriously, but that none of the complaints filed with the Iowa Utilities Board has been validated so far.

Canada will take its next step toward revamping pipeline oversight as soon as tomorrow when it unveils a panel to overhaul the National Energy Board, WSJ reports.

The proposed five-member panel will have until the end of March to offer advice on changes to the NEB, part of a wider effort among government departments to toughen legislation regarding environmental reviews, according to the report.

The panel’s work will take place as Prime Minister Trudeau decides in the coming weeks on the fate of individual projects led by Kinder Morgan's (KMI+0.9%) expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline.

Meanwhile, the government also has imposed a Nov. 25 deadline in which it must decide what the next steps are for Enbridge's (ENB+3.1%) Northern Gateway pipeline.

The quake has prompted some pipeline operators to shut down operations at the site as a precaution: Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP) says it is working through a controlled shutdown of its assets in the area but reports no damage to its assets, Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) says there was no effect on its facility in Cushing, and Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) says it is not aware of any impact on its Cushing operations.

Oklahoma has been plagued by earthquakes in recent years, which many people blame on underground wastewater disposal from oil and gas production.

The comments from CEO Al Monaco come as ENB works to close its $28B takeover of Spectra Energy to create the largest North American energy infrastructure company.

Monaco also said in today's earnings conference call that he is confident ENB would gain approval from the U.S. and Canada to replace its Line 3 pipeline that runs from Alberta to Wisconsin, but conceded the possibility it would begin operations later than the targeted 2019 in-service date.

ENB plans to start five projects by mid-2017 and five more by 2019, according to a slideshow from its conference call.

ENB reported along with its Q3 earnings that volumes on its mainline system, which ships the bulk of Canadian crude exports to the U.S., averaged 2.35M bbl/day as Alberta oil production recovered from wildfire-related outages earlier this year.